Making sure your checkout page is properly optimized is critical to the success of your e-commerce efforts.
Do you want to learn how to optimize your checkout page? Many business owners and marketing teams do an excellent job of leading consumers to their order page by delivering valuable content and actionable advertising. But, despite their efforts, they still struggle to secure sales.
The average cart abandonment rate across all industries is a whopping 68%, so you should expect a majority of people that land on your checkout page to leave. However, that doesn’t mean that optimizing this critical part of your website won’t lead to new sales.
If your ordering process is accessible and informative, there’s a good chance that more people will follow through and click the purchase button. We know that checkout pages can vary across industries, but there are several universal tips you can use for maximum value.
Let’s explore six small but essential things you can do to boost the sales on your website’s order page.
Keep pricing simple
Did you know that 56% of all cart abandonment occurs due to unforeseen costs? Think about online shopping experiences you’ve had in the past. At one point or another, we all decided to shop with an online business and got to the checkout page, only to realize they added a ton of extra fees and taxes at the end.
This situation alone can turn people away from your website, resulting in a lost sale, and potentially, a lost long-term customer.
You don’t want to put your customers in this situation. If you can, display the price of your products with the tax on your listings. Some consumers may be put off by the pricing at first, but the people close to checking out will appreciate a consistent price point between pages.
Another way to keep your pricing simple is to offer free shipping on orders over a certain dollar amount. Display the free shipping rule on product and sales pages, so people know what they need to spend to take advantage of this special.
Keeping your pricing simple ensures that users can confidently navigate your site with a budget in mind and not leave because they didn’t account for additional costs.
Diversify payment options
Payment options are also vital to people who shop online. There are many ways to pay for products and services, and your site should allow users to pay with the most popular platforms.
Credit and debit card payments are, as you can imagine, necessary for a thriving business. But don’t stop there. PayPal, which is used by over 286 million people, is also a major payment method. Some people essentially do all of their banking through PayPal, and you don’t want to miss out on those additional sales.
Other popular payment platforms include Stripe, Venmo, and Google Pay. If you’re unsure which platforms you should add to your site, it might be worth checking out customer feedback to see if there are any commonly requested payment methods worth adding.
Show that you’re trustworthy
You’ll have a better chance of getting people to complete their orders if they trust your business. Everyone online shopper carefully checks out a website before they make their initial purchase. They want to make sure that the company is authentic and trusted by other consumers.
Visitors are looking for social proof. Social proof is an indication that your site is used by real people and has the approval of other reputable businesses.
There are a couple of ways you can show social proof on your checkout page. One thing we like using is including two or three testimonials on the footer of the page. When people scroll to the bottom, the last thing they see before they click through is two positive experiences from other customers.
You should also consider adding trust badges to your payment forms. You can obtain a trust seal from your security provider, as well as independent companies. Use these seals to show new visitors that well-known sites approve of your company and business practices. Plus, adding trust badges to your forms can improve conversions by 42%!
Make it mobile-friendly
Let’s face the facts, mobile use is quickly outpacing traditional desktop computers. More people are using their smartphones to communicate with friends, shop for products, and find entertainment.
You may be wondering exactly how much mobile is overtaking desktop. Consider this: 58% of website visits in the United States take place on smartphones. In other words, if you want to get more sales from your site, your checkout page needs to be optimized for mobile users.
This situation is another example where excellent customer experiences can entirely fall apart if your checkout page isn’t mobile-friendly. We suggest testing your page’s speed to make sure users can quickly click through and sign up. Test your site on multiple devices, so you know that performance is consistent across different interfaces.
You should also optimize the placement of your menus, forms, and text style for smartphone users. Keep finger placement and accessibility in mind so users can easily navigate each step of the checkout process.
Improve cart management
Some businesses struggle with getting customers to stay on their site because they have a poor cart management interface. When someone adds products to their shopping cart, can they clearly see the cart and price on each page? If not, consider adding this feature to your site so the user can easily see their order total.
You’ll also want to make it easy for people to add, remove, and edit items in their cart. If your UI is vague, consumers might have trouble figuring out how to remove items put in their cart by accident or make changes to things they plan on buying.
Avoid distractions
Finally, you can optimize your checkout page by removing distractions. Use a clean and straightforward design that puts the user in a position where they have to focus on the order page in front of them. You’ll want to remove sidebar widgets that display blog posts, irrelevant offers, and links to things like podcasts and webinars.
You’ll find that it’s much easier to secure sales when users are not clicking away from your order page because they were intrigued by something else on the page.
The best way to get this done is to look at the page from the front-end. Make a list of the elements that are unrelated to the buying process. Go into the back-end of your site, and remove those parts. You can also experiment with different widgets to see if specific downsell or upsell offers work to increase sales.
There’s no question that your checkout page can help you improve sales. The key is to design a system that allows your customers to get through the process as painlessly as possible. You don’t want people fumbling through menus, struggling with long, drawn-out forms, or getting distracted by other parts of your website.
After you start making changes, make sure you monitor customer feedback to see if people are having any new issues since implementing the changes. Look for new pain points or areas of opportunity where you can improve the process. Continuously fine-tuning the checkout process will ensure that as many people as possible will make it to your site and complete their order.
